AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) camp leader O Panneerselvam on Sunday announced dissolving a seven-member panel set up to hold merger talks with the Amma faction led by chief minister K Palaniswami.

The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister made the announcement at a meeting of party functionaries in Chennai. It was received by cheers from supporters, with his senior colleagues rushing to congratulate him.

He said he was being “forced” to come up with such an announcement as he had been “tolerating” all kinds of “irresponsible statements” from the opposition camp.

People from all walks of life, especially women, students and the youth, were now opposing the idea of the merger, he said.

“In this situation, the panel that was formed on behalf of our team (to hold merger talks) is being dissolved,” he said amid loud cheers from supporters.

Panneerselvam’s announcement came as no visible progress was made in the proposed talks. Former ministers KP Munusamy (PT) and R Vaithilingam (Amma) led the respective panels, which were formed in April.

Though both sides publicly announced their willingness to hold talks, the Panneerselvam faction remained firm on its demand for a CBI probe into the death of Jayalalithaa and the removal of AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her family members, including deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, from the party as a precondition for talks.